infamous

[ in-fuh-muhs ]
See synonyms for: infamousinfamouslyinfamousness on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. having an extremely bad reputation: an infamous city.

  2. deserving of or causing an evil reputation; shamefully malign; detestable: an infamous deed.

  1. Law.

    • deprived of certain rights as a citizen, as a consequence of conviction of certain offenses.

    • of or relating to offenses involving such deprivation.

Origin of infamous

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin infām(is) (see infamy) + -ous

Other words for infamous

Opposites for infamous

Other words from infamous

  • in·fa·mous·ly, adverb
  • in·fa·mous·ness, noun

Words that may be confused with infamous

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use infamous in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for infamous

infamous

/ (ˈɪnfəməs) /


adjective
  1. having a bad reputation; notorious

  2. causing or deserving a bad reputation; shocking: infamous conduct

  1. criminal law (formerly)

    • (of a person) deprived of certain rights of citizenship on conviction of certain offences

    • (of a crime or punishment) entailing such deprivation

Derived forms of infamous

  • infamously, adverb
  • infamousness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012